3P-56 PDF
Dark discharge assisted Direct Analysis in Real Time ionization using Argon
Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) is one of the most famous ion source for ambient ionization without any sample preparation. DART ionization is based on metastable heated helium gaseous atoms with penning ionization causing analyte (de)protonation ions. Metastable Helium has important role in ambient ionization nevertheless their small molecule weight leads to load the mass spectrometers turbomolecular pumps and high vacuum system. In this poster, it is shown DART using Argon system. Argon did not yield any ion in use of conventional DART however argon is heavier than Helium and less load to vacuum system. When added another needle electrode to conventional DART, Argon performs penning ionization causing analyte (de)protonation ions like Helium.